by Nicole Fox
Hell, she’s probably the person who told him.
That’s not good. Not good at all.
Anna leans forward, eyes as wide as possible considering the weight of her lashes. “Is it true you tore his place to shit? I heard you trashed his house after he dumped you?”
“After he dumped me?” I bark out a laugh. “I broke up with him.”
She purses her lips and nods, but I can tell she doesn’t buy it. No one does. Not a single one of the Public kids I used to call my friends.
Not that I care. If I had it my way, I’d never see any of those people again.
Anna shrugs, takes another long sip of her beverage, and then totters away. I watch her go.
She takes a seat amongst a cluster of Public girls on one of the front bleachers. They all start whispering and cackling. A few of them throw mean glances my way.
Even though it’s a bad idea, I let myself search their faces to see if Estefania is among them.
Estefania—my former best friend. Also the girl who hasn’t returned a single one of the many, many text messages I’ve sent since my family moved across town and I switched schools.
I’m desperate to see her. To hear from her. Something, anything, even just a “hi” or a “fuck you.” She’s the only one left at Public that I care about.
But it seems the feeling is not at all mutual.
The crowd noise picks up. I look over to the ring to see what’s happening.
Between the ropes, Caleb is doing what he does best—pounding his opponent into a pulp. His back is facing me, so I can see how his muscles flex and shine under the spotlights.
Slicked with sweat. Dangerous. Deadly.
Also, absurdly gorgeous.
I shake my head and stick that thought where the sun don’t shine.
Caleb hates my guts. With good reason. After everything that happened between us…
No. Noooope. No way, Jose. The past is the past. Nothing good can come of revisiting the things that John did while I was with him. The things he made me do.
I shudder and turn away as the crowd roars behind me.
I’ve overstayed my welcome. It’s time to get the hell out of here.
This part of my life is over.
I take a deep breath when I push through the rusted side door and emerge into the parking lot.
It’s summer in Ravenlake, Texas, so the air is humid. But it feels good anyways.
Calming. Soothing.
Out here, the roar of the crowd is hardly noticeable. It’s just crickets. Distant cars passing on the highway. The drone of the one fluorescent light in the far corner of the parking lot.
Until, when someone reaches out of the darkness and grabs me, I add my scream to the mix.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
I whirl around, still caught in the man’s grasp. I’m expecting to see John.
He found me. He came to finish what he started. To shut me up. Silence me for good.
But it’s not him.
Instead, it’s Levi—John’s best friend.
“Leaving,” I snap. I wrench my arm free of his clutches and take a step away from him.
“Why did you come here tonight?” His breath is thick with the scent of alcohol. Enough so that I feel a little drunk just smelling it. “Not smart, little Halez. Not smart at all.”
“Thought I’d put some money on the Wilson kid.”
He growls between clenched teeth. “Don’t be a smartass. No one has heard from you in months. If you knew what was good for you, you’d be hiding.”
I roll my eyes. “You don’t scare me, Levi.”
That’s a lie.
I do a quick survey of my surroundings. I’m alone in a parking lot with a drunken asshole whose best friend is my abusive ex.
Everyone inside is screaming their heads off as the Fighter Prince of Ravenlake Prep beats another idiot into submission, which means none of them will hear me if I start screaming for help.
All of which means one thing: I’m fucked.
Levi stands taller, puffing out his thin chest. I always referred to him as “the rat,” which amazingly he didn’t care for, despite how accurate it was.
Like a rodent, he scurried around gathering intel on everyone and everything to take back to his nest. And if you gave him the chance, he’d shit all over you. The only person he was loyal to was John.
Still, he is bigger than I am. Stronger, too.
He reaches out and grabs me again. His hand is an immovable cuff around my forearm.
He pulls me close, his breath hot in my face. He must see me glance around, hoping for some last minute savior, because he smiles.
“You aren’t under the protection of John anymore. You know that, right? No one gives a shit what happens to you.”
“Let me go.” I speak evenly. “Even if we aren’t dating, I’m sure John wouldn’t appreciate this.”
The fluorescents make Levi’s skin look yellow and sickly. When he smiles wider, a shiver moves down my back.
“You’ve been gone a long time, honey. You don’t know what John wants.”
Before I can really react, Levi yanks me into a small alcove in the alley behind the abandoned building where the underground fight is taking place.
I try to pull against his hold, but I can’t break free.
He’s got me.
Levi flings me against the rough brick wall and pins me there with his hips. My head cracks hard against the bricks and I see stars.
My heart is a jackhammer in my chest, but I can’t move. Can’t breathe.
My entire body is frozen in panic.
Then, suddenly, Levi’s mouth is over mine.
His lips are dry and thin, and his kiss is crushing and unrelenting. There is nothing warm or sensual or pleasurable about it at all. It feels like my teeth are being ground into dust and the smell of alcohol on his breath is so strong I want to gag.
I slam my hands into his chest, surprising him enough that he stumbles back a step and breaks the kiss.
“What the hell?” I curse, wiping at my mouth with the sleeve of my cropped, long-sleeved shirt. “What are you doing?”
He spits on the ground. “Seeing what the big deal is about. John was pissed when you left, and I didn’t get it. What’s so special about you?”
He lurches towards me again.
I try throwing a knee into his balls, but my aim is off and he takes it in the thigh instead. He grunts in pain, but it’s not enough to stop him.
Especially not when he rears back and slaps me.
The stars in my vision double. I taste blood.
And still, no one is coming to help.
“Don’t make it worse for yourself,” he slurs. “Relax and this could be real nice.”
His hands wrap around my wrists, and his body is plastered to mine so thoroughly that I can’t knee him again.
His body rolls against mine, pressing the hardness at his center against my waistband and hip. I cringe away from him and try to pull myself free, but my arms feel like limp noodles compared to his.
Suddenly, the door next to us opens, and a sharp triangle of light shines out, momentarily blinding me.
We both look towards the door. Levi curses.
“Fuck, sorry,” the intruder says. It’s a Hell Prince I recognize but don’t know well. “I didn’t know anyone was out here.”
He starts to close the door, and I gasp, “Help. Please.”
“So dramatic,” Levi sighs. “We’re fine.”
The Hell Princes aren’t good guys, but they are still human beings. I expect the guy to step in and see if I’m okay, to check and make sure I want to be here.
Instead, he chuckles to himself. “Have fun, you two.”
Then he pulls the door closed, plunging us into darkness once more.
CALEB
This kid never stood a chance.
He came into this match thinking that being a few pounds heavier and a few inches taller gave him the upp
er hand.
Big fucking mistake.
It took him a while to realize it, too.
It wasn’t until the third or fourth time I cracked him straight in the jaw that he started to understand he was in very, very deep shit.
I dance around the corner of the ring as he lumbers towards me.
The spotlights are bright. The crowd is roaring. It’s a good night for fighting. A good night for winning.
The big idiot takes a huge, loping swing that misses by a country mile.
I swerve around it, then deliver a crunching uppercut right under his chin.
He hits the deck immediately, square on his ass. The crowd goes apeshit.
“Stay down, moron,” I hiss at him. It’s for his own good. Just stay down there and take your loss. You’ll go home intact. I can’t promise what will happen if you try to keep this going.
But he’s not the type to take friendly advice, it seems.
Growling like a wounded ape, he plants his knuckles on the canvas and gets up slowly. I sigh, wipe the sweat off my forehead with the back of one glove, and get ready to do this again.
He brings his hands up in front of his face. Takes one step towards me. Feints high with the jab, then tries to bring that big old roundhouse through again. Trying to take my head off.
If I were anyone else, the feint might’ve fooled me. I might’ve eaten that roundhouse right to the chops.
But I’m not anyone else.
I’m Caleb Wilson. I own this fucking ring.
Time to teach him who’s in charge.
I duck under the roundhouse. It goes whistling over my head like a meteor.
Then, two lightning-fast punches to his gut. The wind whistles out of his lungs. He doubles over, giving me that big, ugly face as a perfect target.
Another uppercut.
Two crosses, one right and one left, send his head snapping in either direction.
Blood flies. Sweat drips.
And then he hits the turf.
He’s out cold before he lands. And I’m already turning to the crowd, mounting the rope, hands held high in victory.
The crowd was deafening before. Now, they’re like a sonic boom. Packed to the rafters, chanting my name.
“Ca-leb! Ca-leb!”
I’m famous here. Undefeated prizefighter, the surefire bet who never loses.
If only they knew what the rest of my life is like.
“Do you train every day?”
The card girl isn’t one I’ve seen before, and I don’t know her name.
More to the point, I don’t need to know her name. She is just the girl who lets the crowd know which round it is. There isn’t a need to go into further detail.
“Most days.” If football practice and beating down idiots who come for me and my friends counts as training, then definitely.
She drags a finger from my shoulder to my bicep and pokes at my arm. “That’s hot.”
She is hot.
Her denim shorts are so tight they look painted on, and her tits are bursting out of a low-cut tank top. Barely-there clothes are the wardrobe for any card girl, which is why I’ve slept with most of them.
Another perk of the business.
“Wait while I pick up my money, and I’ll show you how hot.”
She gnaws on her plump lower lip, and I know she will service me just fine. I don’t need to connect with her on a spiritual level. I just need a place to put the adrenaline still pulsing in my veins.
I need a release, and there’s no reason we can’t be that for one another.
She nods, and I hold up a finger as I turn away.
A few people stop me as I make my way to the kitchens, congratulating me on another win, but most people steer clear.
No one from Ravenlake Prep is here. It’s not their scene.
Most of the kids are from Public or other towns entirely. The Hell Princes run this joint, which means my Golden Boys don’t want shit to do with it.
We’ve been in a truce with the Hell Princes for almost a year, but tensions are still … tense. Anything could go to shit at any moment.
Best to stay on guard.
I remind myself of that as I push open the swinging kitchen door and step into the stainless-steel shell of what was once an operating kitchen.
Felix, the fight promoter who arranges these underground events, is standing in front of the sink with two brawny guys on either side. The basin of the sink is full of cash.
He looks over his shoulder at the sound of my footsteps.
“I should start paying you in advance.”
“I wouldn’t mind.” I cross my arms and lean my hip against the counter. “It would save us both some time.”
All three men turn, standing shoulder to shoulder to block the sink from my view.
“I bet against you tonight,” he says with a wild grin.
“Why would you do something stupid like that?”
He frowns. “Because you can’t win them all.”
“History would disagree,” I laugh.
Felix reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulls out a bundle of cash bound with a rubber band.
I take the time to eye the guys on either side of him. They’re Hell Princes, which means they’re wearing their leather jackets.
“You know,” I drawl, “for a motorcycle club, you guys seem to have a very strict uniform policy.”
“The fuck did you say?” the one with the shaved head growls. His buddy, a goon with eyebrows thicker than caterpillars, tightens his fists and takes a half-step towards me.
I chuckle. “I’m just saying, it’s Texas. Hot as hell down here, in case you haven’t noticed. Have you considered switching to linen vests? Maybe then you all wouldn’t stink like sweaty shit all the time.”
I’m still laughing as the pair of Hell Princes flanking Felix look like they’re ready to throw down here and now.
Felix rolls his eyes. “Easy, idiots,” he snaps at the two bodyguards.
They growl, but relent. Even dumbass Hell Princes know the pecking order around here.
He tosses the money across the counter to me. “Count it if you want. It’s all there.” He says that every time.
And every time, I unbind the cash and count it.
He sighs. I ignore him.
When I first came to the fights, Felix almost tossed me out on my ass. There are high school kids in the Hell Princes, but Felix is in his mid-twenties, and he was worried the fights were turning into an after-school program.
He especially wanted me gone when he heard I came from Ravenlake Prep.
“Get your pansy, prep school ass out of my face” were his exact words, if I remember correctly.
Before he could even finish the sentence, I’d twisted his arm behind his back and had my fist poised a centimeter from his eye.
From then on, I was allowed to fight.
It’s been worth his while, mostly. I don’t lose—ever. Week after week ends with me on top of the ropes while the crowd screams my name.
He lost money on me this week for being stupid enough to bet against me, but the Hell Princes made a pretty sum.
I’m their cash cow.
Which is why, even in the midst of the drama between the Hell Princes and the Golden Boys, Felix wants to keep me around. It’s also why none of the Hell Princes ever mention my fights to my best friends.
When I finish counting the last crumpled bill, I shove the five hundred dollars deep in my pocket and tip an imaginary hat. “Thanks for your time, as always, gentlemen. And keep in mind what I said about the linen. Very breathable material, you know?”
And then I’m gone, leaving behind two very pissed off Hell Princes who couldn’t lay a finger on me if they wanted to.
Because if they did, I’d put them in the fucking dirt.
For a second, I don’t recognize the card girl waiting outside the school.
Most of the crowd has cleared, leaving behind the people working the fight, which means t
here are two card girls standing within spitting distance of one another.
For the life of me, I can’t remember which one I was talking to before.
There’s a redhead and a blonde, which should be a dead giveaway, but I was a bit more focused on her other assets to pay attention to her dye job.
Shit.
They both have on tiny denim shorts and tank tops. I should have put something on her back to mark her.
I weigh my options. I could take a stab at it, walk up to one of the girls and say something nondescript. Then, if she seems confused or doesn’t recognize me, I’ll move on to the other girl. Easy enough.
From the back, the redhead has the bigger ass. I decide to start there. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
I check my phone as I saunter over. I have a few notifications from the guys. J.C. wants to know where I moved Finn’s spare key, and Noah texted a minute after J.C. did to tell me not to tell him where the key is.
I’ve been watching Finn’s house for him ever since he and Lily split for New York in the middle of the summer. I’m the only Golden Boy he can trust to actually show up to take care of the place and not destroy it.
Lily got into an art school up there, and Finn is working remotely for Barber Engineering. Before all the shit with his dad happened, the Foster family was much more involved in the day-to-day of Barber Engineering.
I text J.C. to fuck off and stay away from Finn’s house when I’m not around. No telling what that clown would get up to if he was given run of the place.
The red-haired card girl spins around at the sound of my footsteps, purring out a greeting. “Hey, Caleb.”
Not helpful. I was hoping for something more concrete like, Are you ready to rail me now?
“Hey.” I glance up, but nothing about her face is particularly memorable.
She turns towards me, chest pressed out. “Great fight tonight.”
Shit. The other girl already said that, and unless she has early-onset dementia, this isn’t her.
“Caleb?”
The blonde card girl is skewering me with her gaze. Guess I picked wrong.
Blondie lifts an eyebrow. “Did you forget which card girl you were going home with?”
Now both girls are looking at me, and I’m trying to math out the likelihood of turning this mishap into a three-way. Maybe we could all laugh about it while they take turns riding me. Stranger things have happened.